“Gata”

Florida Everglades. Big Cypress, FL.

07-Dec.-2024

It was a three-hour drive from Fort Myers to Miami. About an hour and a half in, my husband and I found ourselves in that universal situation married couples know well: two people trapped in a car just a little too long. We needed a break—from the road, and maybe a little from each other.

Then, like a small miracle, a rest area appeared right in the middle of the Florida Everglades.

It was the perfect place to stretch our legs and catch a view—and what a view it was.

The gators were out in full force. Dozens of them piled along the limestone banks, basking on the shore or floating motionless in the water. As always, they were accompanied by their usual entourage—anhingas and cormorants perched in the trees above like patient sentries.

One gator in particular caught my eye. The sun glittered where the water met the matte leather of his hide, sparkling like diamonds along his back. He sat perfectly still—a perfect model, which is more than I could say for my husband and me five minutes earlier.

Around him, everything seemed painted already. The water was a deep ochre, tannins and minerals staining it a rich golden color. The limestone banks were jagged and pocked with dinner-plate-sized solution holes that looked like tiny portals into another world.

That little stop in the Everglades was a good reminder for the rest of the drive: sometimes you just need to get out of the car and look around a while.

There are some pretty incredible sights out there.

When I got home that night, I painted the glittering, golden gator.